In March 2025, a claim spread that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained British tourist Becky Burke in Washington state after she was refused entry into the U.S. Snopes readers wrote to us to ask about the legitimacy of a Facebook post purportedly written by Burke's father,

They keep saying in all their booklets that this is not a prison,” she said to a news outlet. “It’s hard to distinguish from my conception of a prison.”

Burke has been in ICE custody in Tacoma, Washington since February 26. She had been on a planned four-month backpacking trip in North America, but when she attempted to cross from the U.S. into Canada,

A 28-year-old tourist from Wales has allegedly been detained for nearly two weeks after attempting to travel from the U.S. to Canada.

A UK tourist has been locked up in an ICE detention center for more than 10 days over a “visa mix-up”—and her return to the UK may be further delayed due to Donald Trump’s recent purge of immigration judges.

In a statement to NewsNation, an ICE spokesperson said Burke was detained by the agency "for violation of the terms and conditions of her admission."